Television

"Orange is the New Black" and "Getting On": Shining a spotlight on women in the trenches

"Getting On," starring Alex Borstein and Laurie Metcalf, dances around the subjects of death and dying. (Provided by HBO)

The close-knit relationships of men, bands of brothers sharing life's most intense moments, have long been the focus of war, adventure, mob and prison movies.

But lately, popular entertainment is spotlighting the angst of women in the trenches in a fresh way.

These comrades in arms function in different sorts of hells-on-earth. Battling their own demons, authority figures and the inevitability of death, the women depicted in two tragicomedies — set in a women's prison and in a geriatric hospital ward — push the bounds of dramedy.

Existential dread has never been so funny.

These series about women persevering inside soul-crushing bureaucracies bring egalitarian ensembles to the task.

"Orange is the New Black," a Netflix original, and the upcoming "Getting On" on HBO, are very dark comedies, rooted in tragic circumstances and delivering an unvarnished view of life from the distaff side.

"Getting On," premiering Nov. 24, captures a new tone, bringing the concerns of women (even those beyond a certain age) to the small screen. In its six-episode first season, the mostly female staff of a hospital's extended-care geriatric unit labors against the inevitable, bonding in the midst of chaos. The relationships and challenges are played with ingenuity. And hilarity.

Advertisement

In Jenji Kohan's "OITNB," a Netflix original based on the book of the same title by Piper Kerman, the intimacies of women's relationships — with each other, with their own dark pasts, even with their bodies and grooming in tight quarters — are explored without apology.

Piper, an entitled upper-middle-class woman, lands in prison after being busted smuggling drugs for her former girlfriend. There she encounters a kaleidoscope of women whose histories are relayed in flashback — an aspiring track star, a transgender hairdresser, a Russian cook, a born-again addict, a "crazy-eyed" inmate and more.

Kohan ("Weeds") paints powerful portraits of each character. Season 2, currently in production, will focus less on Piper and be more of an ensemble piece.

Equally gritty and darkly funny, "Getting On" may offer a more personally relevant exploration of women's issues, specifically women serving as caretakers for others at the end of life. Not all women will land in prison, but we'll all likely end up as caretakers or patients or both.

Adapted by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer ("Big Love") from a 2009 British TV dramedy, "Getting On," successfully intertwines concerns about weight, sex, dating, career and the task of caretaking, with the impossible rule-bound thinking of a hospital bureaucracy, all shadowed by a looming cloud of mortality.

Like "OITNB," "Getting On" presents an array of well-defined, sometimes angry, disturbed, selfish and mostly female characters. They are sympathetic even when unlovable. The dialogue and physical gross-out moments are equally frank. And hilarious.

Metcalf is perfectly unrelenting as the insecure doctor demoted to the geriatric ward. Nash is the voice of reason as the newcomer to the ward, experiencing the bizarre behaviors for the first time on behalf of the viewer.

And Borstein is a revelation. Count this as her breakout role after decades in the business. After a dozen years as the nasal voice of Lois on "Family Guy," and a few minor onscreen appearances plus writing/producing credits on "Shameless," she is terrific as Dawn Forchette, the earnest (and lonely) head nurse.

In both series, the writing seeks a truthful contemporary women's point of view. This is not "The Golden Girls," a famously gay male take on a female-centric comedy. This is women's work.

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

PARIS (AP) — Bye, New York! Ciao, Milan! Bonjour, Paris! The world's largest traveling circus of fashion editors, models, buyers and journalists has descended on the French capital, clutching their metro maps and city guides, to cap the ready-to-wear fashion season. Full Story